Door frame



March 6, 1956 t J. D. LONGLEY v 2,736,930

DOOR FRAME Filed Oct. 28, 1953 INVENTOR John D. Logglg l Wm i Y6 UnitedStates Patent noon FRAME John D. Longley, Washington, D. c. ApplicationOctober 28, 1953, Serial No. 388,732

2 Claims. (on. 20-11) This invention relates to door jambs. Inparticular, the invention is directed to an improved adjustable doorjamb.

In the co-pending Johnson and Longley application, Serial No. 352,837,filed May 4, 1953, for Adjustable Wood Door Frames, now abandoned, adoor jamb is disclosed in which tongue and groove sections are heldtogether by means of glue applied after the door jamb has been placed inposition. The objects of the instant invention are to improve upon thisconstruction, especially with regard to the manner of distributing theglue, and to assure that the members will fit together regardless ofclimatic conditions.

In general, these objects are obtained by forming one surface of thetongue on the tongue section of the jamb with a plurality of parallel,longitudinally extending grooves. Such grooves give the improved resultof a better distribution of adhesive, and furthermore lessen thetendency of the tongue member to swell or warp out of shape before beingused, such tendency being especially prevalent when the jamb is formedof a soft wood.

The means by which the objects of the invention are obtained aredescribed more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view through a door jamb with the twoparts separated;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view through the door jamb assembled, butprior to being glued, and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view through the door jambjoint after the parts have been glued together.

In Figure 1 the door jamb is shown composed of two sections. Groovesection 2 has one edge thereof provided with flanges 4 and 6, betweenwhich there is a groove 8. Flange 6 is offset from the plane of section2 by the wall 10. The tongue section 12 is provided with a laterallyextending tongue 14. On the inner face of this tongue are a plurality ofparallel grooves which are separated by ribs 16. These ribs run thelongitudinal length of section 12, and are parallel to face 18.

As shown in Figure 2, flange 6 contains a guide hole 20. Actually, thereare a plurality of these guide holes spaced along the longitudinallength of flange 6, and these guide holes are preferably preformed inthe mill wherein the tongue and groove members are fabricated, althoughthey may be formed at the building site as by drilling, or punching ahole with the use of a nail. Guide hole 20 has a diameter greater thanthe minimum thickness of ribs 16.

When this jamb is installed into position, the sections 2 and 12 areassembled with their outer edges being brought into flush alignment withthe outer faces of the wall, the tongue 14 being adjusted in the slot 8for this purpose. It is noted that the ribs 16 are directed toward thewall so that when tongue member 12 is pulled outwardly some distance, noribs will be exposed on the outer surface of the jamb to mar theappearance thereof. A nail or other means is then inserted into guidehole 20, and driven through tongue 14 and then withdrawn to z form ahole so that communication is established with the grooves between ribs16. As this hole has about the diameter of hole 20, access to one of thegrooves between ribs 16 is always established. A pressure gun or othermeans is then used to inject adhesive 22 through theguide hole 20 andinto the grooves between ribs 16. At thispoint it is noted that there issufiicient clearance, although slight, between the ribs and the innerface of flange 4 so that the glue will pass from groove to groove, andover a considerable distance of the longitudinal length of the grooves.When the glue sets, the jamb sections are tightly secured together.

The use of the ribs 16 not only serves to give a good glue distributionin the joint, but has the further function of maintaining the shape oftongue 14 prior to assembly. Especially when soft woods are used, thedrying or wetting of tongue 14 under changing climatic conditions willcause either shrinking or swelling, and some warping or distortion oftongue 14. The ribs 16 materially compensate for any swelling of thetongue, so that the tongue can always be fitted within the groove 8 ofsection 2. Base and accuracy of assembly is thus insured. The assemblyof the jamb is completed by the placing in position of the side trimmembers as broadly indicated in Figure 2.

Having now described the means by which the objects of my invention areobtained, I claim:

1. In a door frame, a jamb assembly, said assembly including an elongatefirst jamb section, said first jamb section being substantially mediallydivided longitudinally thereof into a main body portion and an adjacentflange portion, said first jamb section presenting a smooth, flat andcontinuous inner surface and the flange portion thereof being thickerthan the main body portion whereby a step face extends perpendicular tothe outer surfaces of the main body portion and the flange portion atthe juncture of such portions, the outer surface of said flange portiondefining the trim strip of the assembly, said flange portion beingprovided with a longitudinally extending notch along its free edge topresent inner and outer spaced flanges, said notch extendingsubstantially halfway the width of said flange portion and forming asmooth, flat inner surface on the outer flange which is coplanar withthe outer surface of said main body portion, a second jamb section, saidsecond jamb section having a longitudinally extending thickened portionand a longitudinally extending tongue of lesser thickness thereadjacentreceived in the notch of the first jamb sec tion, said second jambsection having a smooth, flat and continuous outer surface whereby anabutment surface extends perpendicularly between the inner surfaces ofthe tongue and the thickened portion providing a stop against which thefree edge of said inner flange may abut, a plurality of ribs and grooveson the inner face of said tongue and extending substantiallylongitudinally thereon, said outer flange having a plurality oflongitudinally spaced openings communicating between the inner and outerfaces of said outer flange and for communicating and registering with aplurality of longitudinally spaced glue passageways in the tongue,whereby glue introduced through the registering passageways fills saidlongitudinal grooves in the tongue, such that the second jamb section isrigidly secured to the first jamb section.

2. In a door frame, a jamb assembly, said assembly including an elongatefirst jamb section, said first jamb section being substantially mediallydivided longitudinally thereof into a main body portion and an adjacentflange a portion, said first jamb section presenting a smooth, flat andcontinuous inner surface and the flange portion thereof being thickerthan the main body portion whereby a step face extends perpendicular tothe outer surfaces of the main body portion and the flange portion atthe juncture of such portions, the outer surface of said flange portiondefining the trim strip of the assembly, said flange portion beingprovided with a longitudinally extending notch-along its free edge topresent inner and outer spaced flanges having parallel inner faces, saidnotch extending substantially halfway the width of said flange portionand forming a smooth, flat inner surface onthe outer flange which iscoplanar with the outer surface of said main body portion, a secondjarnb section, said'second jamb section having a longitudinallyextending thickened portion and a longitudinally extending tongue oflesser thickness thereadjacent received in the notch of the first jambsection, said second jamb section having a smooth, flat and continuousouter surface whereby an abutment surface extends perpendicularlybetween the inner surfaces of the tongue and the thickened portionproviding a stop against which the free edge of said inner flange mayabut, a plurality of ribs and grooves on the inner face of said tongueand extending substantially longitudinally thereon, the inner and outerfaces of said tongue being parallel and said tongue being of slightlyless thickness than the width of said notch,-said grooves compensatingfor; shrinkage and swelling of the tongue to minimize warping of thesame so that said tongue is readily received in said notch, and meanssecuring said tongue within said notch.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 19,945NoWlan Apr. 13, 1858 281,760 Gingras July 24, 1883 1,677,058 Stein July10, 1928 1,855,470 Bilton Apr. 26, 1932 2,040,126 Grieve May 12, 1936

